By james art If there was any doubt that Taylor Swift is the biggest, most lucrative, most analyzed, just… most alive pop star right now, then we got the definitive proof in Birmingham last night when a bunch of pundits debated her significance at an event in University of Birmingham’s Bramall Concert Hall.
The symposium, The Taylor Swift Phenomenon, features a number of guest speakers analyzing various aspects of the singer’s art, influence, and cultural and economic power.
Dr Jonah Murphy, lecturer in humanities at the University of Huddersfield, gave a presentation which explored “her texts through a poetic lens, comparing them to prominent nineteenth- and twentieth-century poets such as Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson”.
Analyzing sound, technique and themes, she highlighted “how Swift’s lyrics can be read as poetry, making this art form more accessible to a wider audience”.
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Meanwhile, Dr Sophie King Hill, Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham’s Center for Health Services Management gave a lecture entitled ‘The Taylor Swift Paradox: Woman as Pariah and Hero’.
Her summary reads: “Taylor Swift has gained a huge following and fame over the years, yet she’s seen as both a hero and a pariah, depending on public perception. This talk explores how Swift’s image reveals society’s views of women, misogyny, and the contradictory roles assigned to female figures. Swift’s dual image as a sexualized role model and conflicted figure provides insight into this social dynamic.”
There were additional presentations on the economic power of “Swiftonomics” and “civic and moral virtue in Taylor Swift’s lyrics.”
It’s easy to laugh at the nickname Swift currently attracts. But it’s not just British red-brick institutions that are going for it – there’s now an English course dedicated to Taylor Swift and Her World at Harvard, of all places.
And isn’t it the fate of any culturally significant figure—especially a songwriter—to eventually be dissected on the dissecting board of academia? It happened with Lennon, McCartney and Bob Dylan in the 1960s and even, more recently, with Eminem after Stan in the early years of this century.
Anyway, the Birmingham Swift Symposium seemed to be a great success. It sold out, Swifties made bracelets, and the president of Taylor Swift’s college society agreed that one day her lyrics would be referenced the same way people reference classic lyrics: “She’s known for her pop songs, but they they actually go much deeper than that,” said Orla Keough, “I think she can even be compared to some of the (greatest) poets.”